The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to a footwear construction including a support cage and a sleeve.
Footwear comes in many sizes and shapes to fit the many sizes and shapes of different wearers' feet. While theoretically there may be an “average” foot shape, in reality, there is not one because every foot has a unique shape. Footwear manufacturers usually address this as best they can by having a variety of different sizes and widths of certain footwear models, with the hope of coming close to fitting the feet of most potential purchasers. Many such footwear, however, are constructed with multiple overlays or panels that are stitched together. These overlays, and the resultant footwear, are frequently difficult to shape to the large variety of compound curves and contours of certain feet, let alone many differently shaped feet.
Another challenge to making well-fitting footwear is due to the fact that every foot, of every shape and size, changes its shape during a wearer's stride. For example, a foot can be elongated and narrow, or “stretched out”, right before heel strike during a normal gait. Upon heel strike, the arch of the foot may “contract” slightly to shorten the length of the foot slightly. When the foot starts to roll forward on the ball of the foot, the forefoot typically widens, and then narrows again during toe off. During this movement, the foot of the wearer changes in shape. If a shoe is inelastic, then the changing shape of the foot will not match the unitary shape of the interior of the footwear throughout the gait cycle. This can cause irritation, discomfort and in some cases can detrimentally alter the wearer's gait.
Some footwear manufacturers have attempted to address the above issues by utilizing a very pliable, elastic material to construct the upper of the footwear. Certain manufacturers have produced an upper constructed simply with a knitted sock of varying textures, closed it with laces, and attached it to an outsole. Although this construction is flexible and conformable to a variety of foot sizes and shapes, because the sock readily deforms, it might not provide satisfactory stability or structural support to the wearer's foot.
Thus, there remains room for improvement in the area of producing footwear that fits multiple foot shapes and dynamically conforms to a wearer's moving foot.